DURHAM -- One person was arrested during a long day of rallying in Durham, as crowds moved through downtown to Durham Police headquarters, then police put on riot gear –- and held the line.
It all started earlier in the day Friday after rumors that white supremacist groups like the KKK may organize at the Old Durham Courthouse, where a confederate statue was toppled over earlier in the week.
The Durham Sheriff’s Department tweeted throughout the protests that they had no verified reports of a planned KKK rally. The City of Durham also tweeted out that Durham police never issued an event permit to either group.
A protester on the scene told Spectrum News that there was a KKK member spotted in the area. There was also a false alarm when protesters rushed to the intersection of Roxboro and Main, thinking that they KKK had arrived.
Durham police tweeted out that one person is in custody and charged with failure to disperse, when those protestors arrived at DPD headquarters to see the police in head to toe riot gear.
The protestors moved from outside the old courthouse, to outside the county jail, then towards the police building.
“They’re here to serve and protect and that was not the message that was received today,” said Sue Breed, a Durham resident.
Many were upset by the police’s decision to line the road in riot gear.
“You could see people started getting anxious with the riot gear. That was the wrong message you know they didn’t need to do that and that broke my heart because that’s creating more problems for themselves,” said Breed.
The protestors did obey orders to get off the street but then police moved the line forward.
“They moved the line forward because they wanted us to disperse. If more people in this city learned to come together like this the police officers wouldn’t know what to do. At the end of the day we pay their bills,” said Damorius Fuller-Ali, an activist.
They did disperse the crowd, ending a day long rally in Durham.
“I think they really made a mistake by taking such an aggressive stance to such a peaceful group,” said Breed.
Check out updates from the rally below: